Ringleader of international luxury car theft operation sentenced to nearly 22 years

A flow chart of the scheme used in the conspiracy to transport stolen vehicles charges resulting from investigations that disrupted a major car-smuggling operation at New Jersey seaports.Frances Micklow/ The Star Ledger

A federal judge on Friday sentenced a Brooklyn woman, known among a car-smuggling ring as “the Lady,” to nearly 22 years in prison for leading a sophisticated operation that allegedly shipped dozens of stolen and carjacked vehicles worth millions of dollars from New Jersey to Africa, authorities said.

Hope Kantete, 44, was convicted in June 2013 of 10 counts of transportation of stolen vehicles in interstate or foreign commerce and one count of conspiracy to transport stolen vehicles in interstate or foreign commerce, authorities said.

As part of Kantete’s sentence, U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler in Camden ordered Kantete to pay restitution of $346,937, based on a loss estimated at $2.5 million to $7 million, authorities said.

At the time of the ring's take-down, in May 2012, officials said more than 200 vehicles had been recovered by authorities. They included high-end luxury SUVs from Porsche, Lexus and Audi, which were stolen or carjacked before being sent through Port Newark to waiting buyers in places such as Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Gambia, officials said.

Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement John Morton speaks in Newark in May 2012 about the bust.Frances Micklow/ The Star Ledger

Nineteen people from New Jersey, New York and Kansas were charged in a scheme that allegedly retagged and exported hot cars — about 10 percent of which were obtained through carjackings — with bogus papers to West Africa.

At its center, authorities said, was Kantete, a woman with many contacts in that part of the world.

Kantete’s defense lawyer could not be reached for comment last night.

A multi-agency task force led by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security took down the operation.

The investigation, authorities said, showed Kantete had ring members buy stolen or carjacked cars and sports utility vehicles from thieves operating in northern New Jersey and New York. Then she had people “re-tag,” or place new vehicle identification numbers on the vehicles and create fraudulent title documents so the cars could be shipped abroad.

Kantete next arranged to have the vehicles loaded onto shipping containers and sent to ports in Africa. The cars and SUVs could be resold in West Africa for at least twice their retail value in the United States, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said.

West Africa has become a big market for stolen high-end cars, law enforcement officials have said. It’s not a place where manufacturers are likely to set up showrooms, so demand for black-market vehicles is high, they have added.